Popular Fishing Tips for Brackish Water

Follow the Tides

Get a tide chart, which is available free at most bait and tackle shops, and study the times around your planned fishing days. Get on the water an hour before the tide change, be it rising or falling, and plan to fish steadily until an hour or so after the tide change. Fishing brackish water at any other time of day is a pleasant way to enjoy the great outdoors, but it is not likely to produce a lot of fish. The reason for this is the tide change stirs up the water and gets baitfish moving. This draws out the predators. Fish from the mouth of a stream or river and move upstream as the tide changes.

Bring Tackle for Two Trips

It's important to remember that you can catch fresh and saltwater fish when angling in brackish waters, so you need to be prepared. Many anglers keep one tackle box loaded with freshwater gear and another stocked with saltwater lures. Bring both of them, or grab a good assortment of lures from each box and place them in a third tackle box for your brackish water excursion.
Because you get the best of both underwater worlds, having two sets of tackle will help land more fish. If the channel catfish aren't biting spinners, you can switch to saltwater jigs or squid strips and catch a mess of flounder and perch.

Use Good Equipment and Take Care of It

Fishing brackish waters can often turn up a surprise. You might toss a crankbait for a smallmouth bass and end up reeling in a (saltwater) bluefish with a mouth full of nasty, sharp teeth. Because the conditions and the catch are unpredictable in brackish water, having a medium-action rod equipped with a reliable spinning reel or baitcasting reel gives you a balance between sturdiness and enough action in the rod to play fish. It never hurts to bring along an extra spinning combo if you decide your medium-action rod is too heavy for the job. Either way, plan to spool your reel with 10-12 pound test, and bring a few wire leaders rigged with hooks in case toothy fish, such as small snapper blues, are biting.
Be sure to wash your rods and reels thoroughly in cold, fresh water when you return from your trip, because brackish water contains corrosive salts and minerals that will rust your gear and eat the insides. Rinse the equipment the same day; don't wait until tomorrow.